Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 18 August 1913, page 5


"THE NATIVE BORN."

The Bert Bailey dramatic combination, fresh from a highly satisfactory season in Melbourne, returned to the Palace Theatre on Saturday evening, and was welcomed with enthusiasm by a bumper house. A new piece, entitled "The Native Born," was submitted for ap-proval, and the initial success promises well for the future of the latest effort in purely Australian stagecraft by two leading members of the company, who modestly pose under the name of Albert Edmunds. One novelty of the play, in which comedy, smart dialogue, and dramatic effect are judiciously interwoven, is

the presentation in an outback selection of a "Hall of Mystery," by Charles Spinifex, "ma-gician, hypnotist, and wonder-worker." Mr. Bert Bailey, who plays the role,, is well known in the profession as a clever amateur illu-sionist, and his tricks, while perplexing the audience, gave ample food for amusement. The front of the hall is surrounded by brilliant electric lights, but the interior is in semi-darkness, and Spinifex causes animate and inanimate objects to appear and disappear instanter in most bewildering fashion. The whole thing proved an enjoyable performance in itself, but it is really subsidiary to the plot, and intended to confound evildoers and bring them abjectly to their knees.

Neal Blackmore, who may appropriately be described as a land-grabber, covets the selec-lion of John Hillgrove, his main reason being that he has secretly discovered the existence of a gold reef on the land. Kosciusko Joe, a

fossicker and dummy, accidentally stumbles upon the same find, and at the instance of Blackrmore a confederate named Solly Steel kills the old man with a loaded whip, and the pair of villains then conspire together to trans-for the responsibility for the crime to Jack Hillgrove, son of the selector. Young Hill-grove is in love with Lily Armidale, and Black-more, having designs in the same direction, is all the more eager for the removal of hi

rival.

The hero, of course, eventually finds himself in a very tight corner, but here the illusionist comes upon the scene, and not only enables Jack on several occasions to accomplish the disappearing trick when hard pressed, but af-terwards so plays upon the superstitious fear of one Barcoo—another creature of Blackmore —that he gives Solly Steel away as the mur-der of Kosciusko Joe. On this incident hangs one of the most sensational scenes of the drama. Barcoo, fearing reprisals from the mate whom he has betrayed, starts in a wintry storm across Mount Kosciusko, and is lost amid the snowclad rocks. Here Solly Steel who has gone in pursuit, overtakes him, and is about to annex his horse and leave his quondam associate to his fate when Lily ap-pears. She has dared the cold solitude of Kosciusko peaks in order to evade the per-sistent attentions of Blackmore, and finds her-self at the mercy of his desperate accomplice. Jack, however, reaches the scene at this criti-cal juncture, saves his fiancee, and ultimately brings Solly and the principal instigator of all the wrongdoing within the firm-grip of

the law.

Mr. Bert Bailey as Spinifex bears the bur-don of the work, and the smart epigram-matic remarks of the illusionist gave the audi-ence plenty of entertainment. It is a difficult role to play, but Mr. Bailey never faltered for a moment in quick repartee and alertness of movement. Miss Ada Oakley, too, played capably as the heroine, Lily Armidale, and Miss Lilias Adeson acted admirably as the unscrupulous Alma Blackmore, who pursues hero and heroine with the hate of a "woman scorned." Miss Laura Roberts furnished a piquant study of Cissie Hillgrove, and Miss Alfred Bevan, as the aged spinster, Evange-line Wilberforce Cruickshank, who boasts of her pedigree and her hatred of mere man, also did excellent work. Mr. Edmund Duggan was quiet but forceful as the selector, John Hill-grove, and, as Jack Hillgrove, Mr. Guy Hast-ings had a congenial role, of which he made the most. As the prime villain, Neal Black-more, Mr. Richard Bellaire did well, with the material at his disposal, and Mr. Alfred Har-ford brought out all the absurdities of the serio-comic stage policeman, Finnegan, who falls to realise his responsibilities as a re-presentative of the law. The minor charac-ters were also in capable hands. In "The Na-tive Born" there is a good opening for scenic effect and local colour, and "Hillgrove's se-lection" and "Mount Kosciusko" were settings that reflected much credit upon Messrs. Vaughan and Robins. Tho play was produced under the supervision of Mr. Bailey, with Mr

Harford as stage manager.